Gameday Coverage: Penn State vs. Michigan State

It’s Senior Day at Beaver Stadium, as Penn State hosts Michigan State in the Nittany Lions’ regular season finale. Penn State (6-5) enters following an embarrassing loss to Illinois last weekend. The No. 10 Spartans (9-2) have won two in a row, having scored over 35 points in its last six games.

Saturday’s game will feature one of the nation’s best defenses against a lethal offense. Penn State’s the only defense that ranks in the top five in rushing defense, total defense, pass efficiency, and scoring defense. Michigan State, meanwhile, has the country’s seventh-highest scoring offense, the best in the Big Ten.

17 Penn State seniors will be honored before the game, a group that has stayed with the Penn State program during some of its darkest times. It will also be the fourth annual Blue Out to raise child sexual abuse awareness.

Weather: It’s going to be cold, with temperatures hovering around freezing at kickoff. The late morning and early afternoon will be dry, but some flurries may come around gametime. The real feel will hover at 33 degrees most of the day.

Last Time they Met: The two teams haven’t battled for the Land Grant Trophy since 2010, when Michigan State stormed into Beaver Stadium and ruined the Nittany Lions’ regular season finale, 28-22. The Spartans were also ranked No. 10 at the time, and a Kirk Cousins-led team scored outlasted a 19-7 final quarter from Penn State to win by six. Matt McGloin threw for 312 yards.

Injuries: Franklin plays it very close to the collar with injuries, often refusing to say if a player will return and explaining that the decision is up to his doctors, not him. Linebacker Brandon Bell didn’t start last week, and was replaced by Jason Cabinda. Franklin suggested that he hopes Ryan Keiser will be on the field for Senior Day festivities.

Media Coverage: Be sure to follow both @OnwardState and @OnwardStSports to receive the full game experience. Our main account will tweet photos, big plays, and other interesting information throughout the game, and our sports-specific account will tweet play-by-play, stats, and analysis. You can also follow along with the game on our Facebook page, and on our live blog.

James Franklin made two things clear before the Lions travel South: Carl Nassib is 100 percent healthy for a game for the first time in more than a month, and Christian Hackenberg and Austin Johnson have both applied for draft evaluations from the NFL.

Penn State’s Interfraternity Council wants to make a statement State Patty’s Day, claiming that none of its chapters registered for a social during Happy Valley’s unofficial drinking holiday this weekend. “We commend the maturity and leadership that they displayed with their collective decision,” IFC released on the absence of socials State Patty’s Day. “We fully […]